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Journal of Environmental Waste Management and Recycling | Volume 1
March 05-06, 2018 | London, UK
Recycling & Waste Management
5
th
International Conference on
E
very year in England more than 434 million tonnes of
waste are generated. The construction and demolition
sector is responsible for 30% of the total and also has a
significant impact in terms of natural resource and energy
consumption, as well as pollutant emissions into the
atmosphere. As one of the most competitive sectors in the
country, with continuously growing demand, we cannot
just “stop building” but what we can do is apply more
sustainable strategies by using waste as a resource and
driving the concept of circular economy. With the aspiration
of developing a circular and sharing economy for large
infrastructure projects, Costain and Loop are collaborating
to analyze the material flows on Costain’s projects to define
alternative solutions aimed at resource optimization and
waste reduction. For instance, a program has been set up
to manage demolition waste for the HS2 enabling works
project in Euston to keep the residual materials in the loop,
giving them a higher value uses. The environmental benefits
associated with moving resources from waste streams back
into use are identified and quantified by means of Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) with attributional and consequential
approaches according to the different projects. The volume
and quality of data in Costain’s possession is of great value
for the development of the LCAs because it comes directly
from the constructors of, and suppliers to, the projects. With
the use of this robust and science based tool the impacts of
these alternative circular business models are measured and
tested, helping to set priorities and giving a baseline for the
product in question, so any improvements or deviations can
be compared and progress can be monitored.
e:
Noemi.Arena@costain.comLife cycle assessment in the construction sector
Noemi Arena, Terry Clarke and Damien Canning
Costain, UK